Dell Loses Communications Head as Buyout Vote Nears

Dell Inc. (DELL), the personal-computer
maker facing a vote on a $24.4 billion buyout offer, is losing
its global head of communications, according to an internal e-mail obtained by Bloomberg.

Kelly McGinnis who joined Round Rock, Texas-based Dell in
March 2010, resigned for “another exciting leadership
opportunity” closer to her family in California, the e-mail
said. Marc Bien, a communications manager at Dell, will assume
the job at the end of July, when McGinnis leaves the company.

Dell shareholders are scheduled to vote tomorrow on a plan
by Michael Dell and Silver Lake Management LLC to take the
company private. A special committee of Dell’s board could move
to delay the vote for about a week to seek a higher bid or build
support for the $13.65-a-share offer. The buyout group considers
the proposal its “best and final” one, according to people
familiar with the situation.

Karen Quintos, Dell’s chief marketing officer, announced
McGinnis’s departure in a a memo Monday to the company’s
communications staff.

Prior to joining Dell, McGinnis worked for Enfatico LLC,
the company’s public relations and advertising agency. Her
replacement, Bien, has spent three years on Dell’s
communications team involved in “reputation management, M&A and
most recently, LBO communications,” the e-mail said.

McGinnis didn’t immediately return a message seeking
comment. David Frink, a spokesman for Dell, had no immediate
comment.

The Silver Lake-led group is facing an outcry from
billionaire investor Carl Icahn and several other large Dell
shareholders, who say the existing proposal undervalues the
company. Yesterday, the Dell committee reiterated its support
for the deal.